Mail and package receptacle.



No. 672,417. Patented Apr. I6, l90l.

M. S. FIELD.

MAIL AND PACKAGE BEGEPTAGLE,

(Lppli6a.tion filed 6, 1901.) (No mm.

lTED errant trier.

MAROELLUS S. FIELD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSTGNOR OF TVVO- THIRDSTO JAMES T. A. LEWIS AND JOHN T. WVARD, OF SAME PLACE.

lVIAlL AND PACKAGE RECEPTACLE.

SEEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 672,417, dated April16, 1901.

Application filed February 6, 1901. S ri l N 46,261. No model.)

To aZZ 1071/01 11 it may concern: to which a collapsible body isattached, and

Be it known that I, MAROELLUS S. FIELD, suitable brackets, to which theframe is de a citizen of the United States, and a resident tachablysecured, the brackets, it will be unof Boston, in the county of Suffolkand State derstood, being secured to the table or wall 55 5 ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improve or to any other suitable supportin such a poment in Mail and Package Receptacles, of sition as to placethe receptacle convenient which the following description, in connecandaccessible. The frame is designated gention with the accompanyingdrawings, is a erally by A, and it may be of any suitable specification,like characters on the drawings shape, Fig. 1 showing a substantiallyrectan- 6o representing like parts. gular frame and Fig. 3 showing asemicircu- In the sorting of mail in post-offices itis lar frame, andsaid frame supports in a manusual to employ suitable receptacles intoner hereinafter described the body B of the which is deposited the mailfor different desreceptacle, which is composed of some flexitinations,and similar receptacles are also ble material, preferably some suitablereticu- 65 t commonly used to receive mail from maillated fabric, suchas netting, which will exchntes, these receptacles being usually basposethe contents of the receptacle to view at kets or similar repositorieswhich when not all times. The brackets by which the frame in use occupya good deal of space. More is detachably sustained are represented by C,over, it is sometimes difficult to ascertain at said brackets being moreparticularly herein- 7o a glance whether the basket or otherreceptaafter described.

cle has any mail therein owing to the opaque Theframe A is preferablymade from a sincharacter of the sides of the receptacle. gle piece ofwire, which is bent into any snit- It is the object of this invention toprovide able shape, but so as to make at least one a receptacle which isadapted to post-oiiice straight side, which will be placed against 75 25 work, either to receive the mail from the mailthe wall or othersupport, and at the angles chute or to'be used in the sorting of mail,or corners of said frame, at the ends of said which receptacle iscollapsible and has its straight side, the wire of the frame is formedbody composed of a reticulated fabric, so that into suitable coils, as-will be presently dethe contents of the receptacle may at all timesscribed. My preferred form of frame is illus- 8o be visible. Thereceptacle is also detachably trated in Fig. 1,which is rectangular inshape, secured to the Wall or any other suitable supthis beingpreferable because it makes the port, whereby it may be easily removedwhen receptacle a universal one, as will be hereinit is desired todischarge the contents thereafter pointed out. As shown in Fig. 1, thefrom. rectangular frame has coils at each corner 85 My inventionconsists of a suitable framethereof, and preferably these coils will betri- Work, from which is suspended the body of angular in shape, asillustrated, and will be the receptacle, which is preferably made frommade by bending the side pieces a at 5 to areticulated' fabric, andsuitable brackets by make a right angle and again bending the which theframe of the receptacle is detach- Wire at 6 to form an acute angle,carrying the 0 4o ably sustained, as hereinafter described and straightportion 7 of the coil across the corner claimed. of the frame and to thetop of the side pieces In the drawings,'Fignre 1 is a perspective eandthen bending the wire back upon itself,

View showing my receptacle fastened to any' as at 8, to make the upperturn 9 of the said suitable support, the body of the receptacle coil,the said upper turn following the lower 95 being shown partially inoutline. Fig. 2 is turn 10 in making the corner of the frame. anenlarged perspective view of one of the Asstated above, each corneroftheframehas'a brackets, showing in dotted lines the position coil madein the mannerabove described, and, occupied by one corner of the frame;and Fig. as will be seen from Fig. 1, the lower turn 10 3 is a planview,- on a smaller scale, of a'modiof the coil above described mergesinto and ICC 5o fied form of receptacle-frame. forms a continuation ofthe side piece 4,

The invention comprises a suitable frame, while the upper turn 9 mergesinto and forms a continuation at one end of the side piece 4, said sidepiece 4- at its opposite end being bent to form the lower turn 10 of thecoil at the next adjacent corner. From this construction it will be seenthat each side piece of the frame merges at one of its ends into theupper turn of one coil and at its opposite end into the lower turn ofthe next adjacent coil.

The body of the receptable B is preferably made from any suitableopen-work or reticulated fabric, suchas netting, the advantages of thismaterial being that the receptacle when not in use can be folded tooccupy a minimum space, and also when in use the open-work fabric allowsthe contents of the receptacle to be always visible from the outside.The reticulated fabric is suspended from the frame by stringing theloops at the upper end of the body upon the side pieces of the frame,and at the corners the said loops pass over the piece 7 of the coil,which extends across the corner of the frame. Vith this way of attachingthe fabric to the frame when it is desired to discharge the contentsfrom the receptacle the frame may simply be turned bottom side up, whenthe entire contents, together with the body B of the receptacle, willfall through the open framemark, the said body being turned wrong sideout by this movement and in its new position being ready for use againwithout the necessity of passing the body back through the frame to itsoriginal position. It will thus be seen that my receptacle is not onlycollapsible, but also reversible.

By making the frame A in the manner above specifi'edv,'. e., with eachside piece connecting the upper turn of one coil with the lower turn ofthe next adjacent coilit will be seen that if the empty receptacle weredropped on the floor each side piece would contact with the floor onlyat one end, and therefore the loops of the fabric which pass around thesaid side pieces are raised sufficientlyoff the floor so that they areprevented from wearing.

The receptacle is usually supported,asillustrated in Fig. 1, by means oftwo brackets O, which are made as rights and lefts, and each bracketcomprises the base-piece 13, which is screwed to the wall or othersuitable support, the said base-piece having projecting laterallytherefrom the shelf or ledge 14, on which the bottoms of the coils atthe corners of the frame are adapted to be supported, the said ledgehaving preferably a slight upward incline, so as to maintain the frameof the receptacle at a slight upward incline when itis in place. Asuitable lug 15, projecting from the face of the base-piece 13, has itslower face cut away, as at 17, the point 18 of the lug being a distancefrom the shelf. 14 slightly less than the thickness of the coil at thecorners of the frame. Afin or side wall 16, connecting the base-piece 13and ledge or shelf 14, serves to strengthen the bracket and also toprovide a stop for preventing any side motion of the receptacle when inplace in the brackets.

In placing the frame in position the front end thereof is raisedslightly from the position shown in Fig. 1, when the rear portion of thecoils may he slipped under the nose 18 of the lug 15 until the coilsstrike the basepiece 13 of the bracket. The front. end of the frame isthen lowered until the bottom of the coil rests squarely upon the shelfor ledge 14, the rear portion of the upper turns of the coils engagingthe incline or cut-away portion 17 of the lug, thus holding the frame ina practically horizontal posit-ion and preventing the same from beingdisengaged from the bracket. When it is desired to empty thereceptacle,the front portion of the frame is raised slightly until the rear portionof the coils can be withdrawn from between the lug 18 and the shelf,when the receptacle can be readily removed from the brackets.

Bymaking the frame rectangular,assl1own in Fig. 1, it becomes auniversal frame, for since the side pieces are all of the samelength theframe may be placed with anyone of its sides against the wall, and it isnot necessary in placing the frame in position to turn it around tobring a certain side thereof between the brackets. The manner ofattaching the fabric of the body B to the framethat is, by stringing theloops on the side pieces and the inner portion 7 of the coils allows theframe to be used either side up, as described above.

Fig. 3 illustrates a slightly-modified form of frame, which may be usedinstead of the rectangular frame, if desired, this frame having thestraight side 21, at the ends of which are the coils, made as describedabove, the said coils being connected by the curved side 22. This formof frame, while it is reversible, is not universal, for it must alwaysbe used with the straight side 21 against the supporting-wall.

It will be obvious that other shapes of frames may be used, providedthey have the straight side which has the coils at each end thereof,this being one of the important features of my invention.

Although my deviceis designed, primarily, for post-office use, yet itwill be obvious that it is not confined to such use, for it is capableof use as a Waste-basket or as a receptacle to hold any desiredarticles.

From the above it will be seen that I have devised an extremely lightand portable mailreceptacle which when not in use can be collapsed andmade to occupy a minimum space and which is so constructed that thecontents thereof are at all times visible.

Various changes may be made in the structure outlined above withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention as expressed in the appendedclaims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. A mailor package receptacle comprising a frame having a substantiallystraight por tion, said frame made of a single wire which is bent toform coils at each end of said straight portion, a body for thereception of mail, composed of a reticulated fabric suspended from saidframe, combined with a pair of brackets for detachably supporting theframe, said brackets each having a ledge or shelf on which the lowerturns of the coils rest, and a lug engaging the top turns of said coils.

2. A mail or package receptacle comprising a rectangular frame made of asingle piece of wire bent to form coils at each corner of the frame,each side piece of the frame connecting the top turn of one coil to thebottom turn of the next adjacent coil, a body for the reception of mail,composed of a reticulated fabric suspended from said frame, and meansfor detachably securing the frame to a support with the frame in asubstantially horizon tal position.

3. A mail-receptacle comprising a rectangular frame made of a singlewire, said wire being bent to form triangular coils at each corner, abody for the reception of mail, composed of a reticulated fabricsuspended from said frame, combined with a pair of oppositely-disposedbrackets for detachably supporting the frame in a substantiallyhorizontal position, said brackets each having a ledge on which thelower turn of the coils at the corners of the frame rest, and a lugengaging the top turn of said coils.

4. A mail-receptacle comprising a rectangular frame made of a singlewire, said wire being bent to form triangular coils at each corner, abody for the reception of mail, composed of a reticulated fabricsuspended from said frame, combined with a pair of oppositely-disposedbrackets for detachably supporting the frame in a substantiallyhorizontal position, said brackets each having a laterally-disposedledge on which the lower turn of the coil is adapted to rest, a lugadapted to engage the top turn of said coils, and a side wall adapted toengage the side of the frame and preventlateral movement thereof.

5. A receptacle comprising a rectangular frame made of a single wire,said wire being bent to form triangular coils at each corner, each sidepiece of the frame connecting the top turn of the coil at one endthereof to the bottom turn of the coil at the other end thereof, acollapsible body suspended from said frame, combined with a pair ofoppositelydisposed brackets for detachably supporting the frame in asubstantially horizontal position, said brackets each having a ledge onwhich the lower turn of the coils at each end of a side piece of theframe is adapted to rest, and a lug adapted to engage the top turn ofsaid coils.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

MAROELLUS S. FIELD.

Witnesses:

JOHN C. EDWARDS, LOUIS 0. SMITH.

